Jan-Dec 2008 - Organization of American States

esolution of the Twenty-fifth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and in
connection with the confidence-building measures that the parties agree to implement. Under the
umbrella of MIB/OEA, the Secretary General and his representative (the director of the DSDME)
have, at different times, met with the Presidents of Colombia and Ecuador. Two meetings have been
organized with high-ranking military officers, and four meetings with the deputy foreign ministers of
both countries. The Secretary General and the director of the DSDME also conferred with the
foreign ministers of both countries. In September, the DSDME organized, in Quito, a forum on
“Building Bridges Ecuador-Colombia,” with the cooperation of FLACSO and the UNDP.
Through the “Fund for Peace,” the DSDME continued its work of international political facilitation,
particularly with respect to the differendum between Belize and Guatemala. Through the Secretary
General’s Special Representative for Belize and Guatemala, the GS/OAS facilitated the negotiations
conducted under the “Agreement on Negotiation Framework and Confidence-Building Measures”
that the governments of Belize and Guatemala signed on September 7, 2005. As a result of these
negotiations, on December 8, 2008, the Foreign Ministers of Belize and Guatemala signed, at OAS
headquarters, the Special Agreement between Belize and Guatemala to Submit Guatemala’s
Territorial, Insular, and Maritime Claim to the International Court of Justice.
Furthermore, the Office of the OAS General Secretariat in the Adjacency Zone has been conducting a
series of verifications and activities to assist a number of institutions in Belize and Guatemala,
including the armed forces. In 2008, the Santa Rosa Community Resettlement Project was
successfully completed, which involved the voluntary resettlement of a community of 17 Guatemalan
families inside the Adjacency Zone administered by Belize. They were resettled within Guatemalan
territory.
Under the Fund for Peace, the Inter-American Peace Forum was launched to set the stage for a series
of programs aimed at cultivating a culture of peace among the various sectors of inter-American
society. These programs are of various types and include lectures and seminars on the topic of peace
and conflict management; preparation of specialized reports and publications; creation of the Inter-
American Peace Prize to recognize those who have made selfless and major contributions to
promoting and building peace; the program OAS Emissaries of Peace, with the collaboration of
distinguished leaders and personages committed to the cause of peace; promoting leadership and
other initiatives, with special emphasis on peaceful settlement of differences and promoting a culture
of respect, tolerance, inclusion and harmony.
2.3.3 Department of State Modernization and Good Governance (DMEG)
The DMEG supports OAS member states’ efforts to develop and facilitate reforms and processes
required by governmental institutions, in order to help strengthen democratic governance and respond
promptly and efficiently to their citizens’ needs, all in an effort to develop more secure, equitable,
free, and prosperous societies.
The DMEG works in coordination with other areas of the General Secretariat through the sections
into which it the Department is divided: Support to Legislative Institutions; Transparency and
Governance; Decentralization; Training of Government Civil Servants, and Support to the Countries
of the Caribbean.
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